There’s nothing like healthy competition to motivate a company to do better. For proof, look no further than Comcast.
These days, the one-time cable monopoly faces relentless encroachment by satellite providers. Verizon’s sale of their New England properties to FairPoint Communications will likely be approved, which promises to add Internet-based television [...]
Archive for January, 2008
Local Rhythms – Comcast News
January 30, 2008Boston Rocks – “The Sound of Our Town”
January 30, 2008A Review of “The Sound of Our Town” by Brett Milano
Boston music doesn’t begin and end with the J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, the Cars or the “More Than a Feeling” arena rockers named after the city.
In “The Sound of Our Town,” a thorough look at the highs and lows of rock music [...]
Local Rhythms – It’s All Write
January 23, 2008I’ve been thinking about the Writer’s Guild of America strike, and the spectre of little more than warmed-over reality television, reruns and poorly attended award shows.
The voice in my head (which sounds a lot like Ralphie in “A Christmas Story”) yells in horror. No “Heroes” or Golden Globes, just six consecutive nights of “Deal or [...]
MacWorld
January 15, 2008Welcome to the greatest show on earth, live from San Francisco.
The keynote should have been held at the Warfield, or the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – some place befitting the demigod aura of Steve Jobs. Say what you will about the Apple CEO, he’s the only tech mogul capable of upstaging actual rock stars.
Or even [...]
Today’s (No Longer) Free Download – Antje Duvekot
January 10, 2008The other day, in between watching the pundits deconstruct the New Hampshire primaries and hearing news of Britney’s latest meltdown, a snippet of a beautiful song came on my television. I recognized Antje Duvekot’s voice immediately, her tune took a moment or two to register.
“Someone is tossing petals in a stream,” she sings, “somewhere [...]
Lori McKenna’s Favorite Year
January 8, 2008Lori McKenna’s heady year – highlighted by her major label debut, an arena tour and a 2007 Boston Music Award for “Unglamorous” – ended on a familiar note, with a four-night residency at Passim.
The Harvard Square club is one of the singer-songwriter’s favorites. “You can’t imagine anybody being big enough to not want to [...]
Sony – It Gets Stupider
January 8, 2008More on Platinum Music Pass, Sony’s misguided entry into the non-DRM world. Track purchases are not a part of the offer; each gift card is good for one album:
To obtain the Sony-BMG tracks, would-be listeners will first have to go to a retail store to buy a Platinum MusicPass, a card containing a secret [...]
Local Rhythms – Try an Open Mic Night
January 8, 2008A reader called last week, asking for my opinion of some home recordings he’d made. He wasn’t looking to quit his day job, but fancied himself a singer and wanted to know what I thought.
It was good – his version of the Dixie Chicks’ “Godspeed” reminded me of Danny O’Keefe and Kenny Loggins – [...]
Local Music Revue – Pulse Prophets, Boomer Sellers, Hexerei
January 8, 2008The sound of the scene – Local Music Revue is an occasional look at recorded works by area musicians. Some are available for sale at shows; others can be bought on the Internet.
This week, the spotlight’s on a reggae fusion band that’s making a big area splash, demo tracks from a Claremont group’s third album, [...]
Sony Breaks Down, Offers Non-Copy Protected Songs
January 7, 2008And then there were none.
Sony, the last of the major labels without a non-handcuffed version of its recorded music, finally relented, announcing something called “Platinum Music Pass.” Business Week broke the story last Friday, and Guardian Unlimited elaborated on it this morning.
With only the Guardian details to go on, I’m decidedly unimpressed. The Platinum Music [...]
